Forestry in the news

Media

Part of Forestry Leaves

Title: Forestry in the news
Language: English
Year: 1956
Rights
Fulltext: • CANADIAN BUILDING BOOM MAKES THAT COUNTRY GOOD MARKET FOR Pl PLYWOODS Construction boom in Canada called for exploitation of a tremendous market potential for Philippine plywood in that country according to a report received yesterday by the department of commerce and industry from Justino M. Navarro, trade assistant in the Philippine consulate in Vancouver. He said Philippine plywood was considered in Canada as one of the best construction materials of its kind. They were being used extensively for making doors and wall panelings, he added. Navarro said Canadian firms desirous of importing this commodity, wanted to know whether Philippine manufacturers and exporers could supply them with Philippine plywood among other products, in sufficient quantity. He noted that Philippine export of this product at present was negligible. He urged that Philippine lumber manufacturers intensify their production of plywood to a point where a substantial exportable surplus would be achieved. With this surplus, he said, the Philippines could supply foreign demands for Philippine lumber products particularly in Canada. The trade assistant stated that although Canada had extensive forest resources, it lacked species of hard wood comparable to the Philippine mahogany. With the present boom in construction of new houses and apartment buildings going on in Canada, this country had to import "Philippine plywood" from Japan, h~ said. He pointed out that for lack of required machinery to process lumber, the Philippines exported logs and lumber to Japan where they were processed into plywood and veneer. Japan in turn exported these "Philippine plywood" and other finished products to other countries like Canada. (Manila Times) ____ .., 0 o----VIRGINIA TOBACCO DANGER Raising our own cigarette tobacco is not an unmixed blessing. Some may question our good judgment in raising tobacco when we do not produce enough food. But that is one of the inalienable rights of free men: to spend their earnings for what they crave. But it is not the right of free men to lay waste the natural resources of the nation, and destroy the productive capacity of the soil. That is July, 1956 • what seems to be taking place in the Ilocos provinces. The forest cover in the nearby and distinct hills is being stripped bare to provide firewood for the flue-curing of Virginia tobacco. In a region already deteriorating from excessive erosion, the firewood gatherers are rapidly converting Ilocandia into another despoliated Cebu. Flooding of the lowlands, silting of rivers, and the loss of the topsoil of the farmlands is the inevitable consequence of this unrestrained exploitation. The bureaus of forestry and lands appear to be impotent to stop this ravaging of the nation's patrimony. Perhaps ACCF A should make sound conservation procedures a condition to further financial help to the tobacco FaCoMas. Erosion is not the only threat to the farmlands posed by the boom in Virginia tobacco raising. The high support prices promised by ACCFA are encouraging the use of ricelands for tobacco. The soil scientists believe that three crops of tobacco will rob the soil of so much fertility that a profitable rice yield will become impossible. The use of fertilizers is still in its infancy in the Philippines, so we can expect today's tobacco raisers to be asking for food doles a few years from now. (Manila Times Editorial) ----o(] 0 o----USES OF ISOTOPES IN PLANTS REPORTED The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources today received reports from Geneva, seat of the International Atoms-For-Peace Conference, on the amazing progress in the study of plant life, and the absorption of fertilizers and other nutritive substances by plants through the use of radioactive isotopes. It was disclosed that these isotopes are used as tracers, whose movements inside the plants can be followed step by step with radioactive sensitive instrument&. In a general review of studies on special problems in agriculture and forestry, J. W. T. Spinks of Canada, reported that isotopes are used to check cobalt deficiency in sheep, to determine the use of phosphorus and calcium by hens, and to observe the behavior of dicumarol, the anti-blood clotting agent. A. J. Biker of the University of Wisconsin, reported how he and his colleagues of. the midwestern United States institution observed reactions under the bark and down inside the roots of trees through the use of radioisotopes. They were thus able to study the sap system, through which most Page 71 plant diseases are transmitted, and to follow the course of food substances, poisons and diseases organisms from one part ol tree to another. H. B. Tuckey of Michigan University, reported that experiments carried on there had shown that leaves, fruits, flowers and even the bark of trees can take up plant food applied by spraying. Tuckey said absorption of plant food from sprays is now known to be many times more efficient than through the roots from applications of fertilizer. (Manila Times) ----o 0 o----AN EDITORIAL* MR. MONSALUD'S MESSAGE We wish that more people from around here could have talked to the chunky, earnest little Filipino chemist who stopped by our Gffice last week. A talk with him would make anybody feel more proud to be an American. The man, Manuel Monsalud, is chief chemist for the only forest products "lab" in the Philippines. He is in this country studying fo~est products chemistry and proces!ing. In Marquette Country he had toured several locd industries and had been at the Dukes Experimental Station. He dropped in to give us a story on what he and his country have done and intend to do about their forest products. In the process he gave us what we thought was a better and important story. Today when almost everything one reads carries stories of hatred and violence in the colonial system of the world, it is refreshing to meet a man from one of our former holdings whose people think the United States is a wonderful country, It is humbling and amazing to have a man from another land extend personal and obviously sincere thanks for what one's country has done for his. It is a moving experience to hear a man speak of our commonly taken-for-granted freedoms in a way that m,akes them suddenly very real and important. Mr. Monsalud fought the Japanese as a guerilla all through the war and speaks with the con· viction of a man who knows what it means to live in fear without freedom and security. When he speaks of the simple everyday things like living in peace with the opportunity to study, work, or start a business, they take on a startling perspective that is hard to get when one has never known anything else. "Speaking unofficially, and for myself," says Mr. Monsalud, carefully, "I can assure you that the vast majority of the Philippine people are deeply grateful for what the United States has done for our country. When we look at other countries embroiled in nationalistic struggles, we have only to look at the just way the United States gave us our promised freedom to feel good reason for gratitude. "In the war with the Japanese we came to know the difference between justice and tyranny, and for us the United States became the symbol of our salvation. When we were fighting in the mountains, radio broadcasts from San Francisco were all that kept many of us from giving up hope. Fragments of these messages of truth were passed from hand to hand until they were worn out. I am sure that 99 out of every 100 Filipinos feel friendly toward the United States. "In all cur relations with your country, help rather than exploitation has been the byword, and all of this help has not gone unappreciated. Today we are more and more able to take care of ourselves, but we have not forgotten what the people of the United States have done for us. "VV'hile we have received a great deal materially from the United States", says Mr. Monsalud, "the greatest gift in our eyes has been the example of democracy. To the Philippine people the United States is the most wonderful country in the world end most of us do all we can to make our country like yours. "My presence here is an example of the sort of thing the United States has done for us. Sixty per cent of the waste from our logging has been thrown away for years. Our fore11t products laboratory at Los Banos is only two years old. It is only a beginning. But with the help of the U.N. and the International Cooperation Administration, in which we and the United States work together, we are studying so as to be able to make the best possible use of what we have. "In the Philippines we have 35 million acres of forest cover and a population of 22 million people. Yet we have no pulp mills 1 and only a few small paper mills. We have 7,100 islands, but only 400 are inhabited. With what I and others are learning here, we hope to be able to make our own pulp, paper, wallboard, charcoal products and chemicals. We hope to expand our economy and develop our agricultural potential. "In the laboratory at Madison, Wis., where I am studying and in the plants and experimental stations I have visited I have never asked information or help from anybody without receiving it. It *Appearing in the Minin~ Journal, May 25, 1956 issue, Marquette, Mich. Northern Michigan's Oldest and Largest Daily Newspaper. 1 We have one begesse pulp end paper mill in Beis, Negros Oriental, Philippines. This, however, is not a pulp and paper mill utilizing forest trees or wastes from logging. It is a small mill with. about 50-ton capacity. Page 72 FORESTRY LEAVES is amazing to me to meet so many helpful, interested people. It has always amazed my people that so many from another land should be so ready to help us. "Although we are now doing more and more on our own, we look forward to the day when we will be completely self-sufficient and able to repay some of the many things that we owe your country." Quick, filled with facts and figures and ideas, Mr. Ivionsalud talked to us for about an hour. He spoke with a heavy accent, but appeared to have complete command of the language and never fumbled for a word. With vigorous gestures, he enthusiastically outlined his country's plans. With obviously intense interest and fascination, he told of the things he had learned in this country and of the things he had seen. A modest man, he outlined his considerable background and accomplishmemnts with a few brief sidelights. When he got up to go he thanked us for our interest and shook our hands, and we were very glad to shake his. We grew to like the man a lot in a very short time. We think you would like him too. It would make any American feel better to know that the United States has friends abroad like Manuel Monsalud. Wie wish Manuel and his country well. - - - - 0 0 o---5,000-YEAR SEQUOIA UNDERLINES PLANTS' AGE, AGELESSNESS By Mona Lisa Steiner, Ph.D. Wlhat is the oldest living thing known? According to the National Geographic Magazine it is the General Sherman tree, Sequoia gigantea at the Sequoia National Park, CaHfornia. It takes 20 men with outstretched arms to encircle the tree, and it is supposed to have flourished before the pyramids were constructed-5,000 years ago. Even if the date may be somewhat dubious, there is no doubt that this Sequoia is several thousand years old. Other Sequoias, Sequoia sempervirens, have been cut and the annual rings revealed an age of about 2,000 years but were much smaller than the General Sherman tree. The annual rings in trees, found on the crosssection of stems, are due to the fast development during the growing season, and the slow formation of cells in the resting period. W:e have tremendous giants in the virgin jungle, but it is difficult to find their age because the lack of definite seasons blurs the picture. In some locations dry and wet seasons alternate regularly, and then more accurate accounts of age are possible. But trees in the rain forest hardly tell their life span. In some instances it is most difficult to tell the beginning and the end of some plants-amoeba divides into two parts, the other half again is proJuly, 1956 pagated by division. The same is true for a number , of common ornamenta!s. The waterplant, Scindapsus aureus, for example, never f;owers and fruits here, and all plants have been derived asexually from a few mother plants. Even if the mother plant dies the cuttings, part of the mother plant, still continue to flourish. (Manila Times) - - - - 0 0 u----REFERENCE BOOKS AT LUMBER BODY The following books are available for reference at the office of the Philippine Lumber Producers' Association located in El Hogar Filipino building: .. don. A Veneer Storage Shed. Soft Wood Freedom. The Conversation of Small Timber. The Ne·.v Timber Bus Shelter In Greater LonHave You Thought of Plywood? Timber And The Festival Britain. Some Used For Home Grown Timbers On The Farm. Construction Timbers. The Examination of Timbers. Sound Practice In The Use Of Timber. Lecture And The Householder. Timber-Distribution, Growth, Properties And Uses. Determination Of Working Stresses. Glued Laminated Timber Structures. Thermal Insulation. Tests On Buildog Connectors. Glues And Their Uses. Timber Connectors. Timber Statistics-1954. Wlhy Wood Floors Are Better And Cheaper. Design Sheet Nos. 1 to 24. Preparation Of Timber For Microscopic Examination. Decay Of Timber In Buildings. Preservation Of Farm Timber. Storage Of Timber To Prevent Decay Plastics And Timber. Lumber Shipped Green Can Be Protected Against Decay. What Is W'Ood? Timber-Its Use In Home Construction. Forest To Consumer. (Manila Times) ____ ,o 0 o----TWO WOMEN ENROLLED WITH 586 FORESTERS by PEG BITTEL A father who is the foremost authority on eagles in the world; a flair for science! These are the elements which inspired two young women to become forestry students. Page 73 Jeanne B. Patric, 222 Groyden St., and Aurora Reyes of Los Baiios, Laguna (in the Philippines), are· the only two girls enrolled in the State University of New York, College of Forestry. The male enrollment numbers 586! Both Graduate Students Both girls are graduate students, Jeanne is working for her doctorate and Aurora, her master's degree in forest chemistry. Being a forestry student is a "natural" for Jeanne. Her father, Charles L. Broley, is a well known ornithologist; has been written up in several leading magazines; and was the subject of a book written by his wife, entitled "Eagle Man." Her husband is Earl Patric, resident biologist at Huntington Forest, the 15,000 acre experimental station in the Northern Adirondacks belonging to the State University. Presently, Jeanne is working on her thesis which deals with the classification and cataloguing system for literature in the Roosevelt Wildlife Library at the College. "It's a rather slow process," she said quietly. And quite understandable ... Jeanne has two children, Betty and Kathy, to care for, a house to keep; and of course her thesis to finish. Called Exceptional Modest end reserved, Mrs. Patric was deemed an exceptional student by her major professor, Prof. Ralph T. King. Her major is forest zoology. A native of Delta, Ontario, Jeanne took her undergraduate work at Queen's University in Canada, and received her master's degree from Vassar College. At Queen's she wrote a column for the Kingston Week Standard called "Nature Notes." Her interest in wildlife goes back to her childhood when she accompanied her father an forest trips to band eagles. Mr. Broley has set up headquarters in Tampa,·- Fla., for his work. Jeanne told of her father's retirement from banking in Winnepeg, at the age of 55, and his decision to band eagles as a hobby. "Now at the age oi 75 he is still going strong," she exclaimed. Jeanne and Early spend most of the year at Huntington Forest, and have returned to Syracuse to stay until! May. She will be the first woman to receive her doctorate at the College of Forestry. Her plans for the future? "I want to teach, write, and work with my husband." Many "Firsts" Being a student at the college has brought about any number of "firsts" for Aurora. This is her first trip to America; the first time she has seen snow; her first purchase of winter apparel, and the first time she has attended a coeducational college. Page 74 Although both Aurora and Jeanne are in a sense classmates, they met for the first time last week while being interviewed for this newspaper. Aurora is studying the chemical utilization of forest products, and is here on a combined travel grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and scholarship to the College of Forestry. A diminutive five feet tall with flashing brown eyes, she says of her male classmates: "They are courteous, friendly and cordial and I feel quite at home". At the University of Santo Tomas where she received an associate degree in Liberal Arts, and a B.S. degree with a major in chemistry, Aurora explained that "both boys and girls attended the University but were segregated in classes." Temperature Change Before coming to this country, she was on the staff of the Forest Products Laboratory of the Bureau of Forestry in Los Baiios. "Syracuse is quite a big city," Aurora commented, "but the weather is such a drastic change from the moderate tem'Peratures of my country." "Here the weather is either very cold, or very hot," she said, "in the Philippines there are sunny skies and moderate temperatures." Miss Reyes (pronounced Ryez) expects to be in this country for about a year and a half. She lives at 613 University Ave., with two roommates . both from the Philippines. After she receives her master's, Aurora plans to return home and "apply her knowledge at her job with Forest Products Laboratory." She's the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mauro Reyes, and has two sisters and a brother: Mauro Jr., an attorney; Teofilo, an accountant; Adoracion, a home economics major; another sister, Rosario and a brother, Eusebio. "I wish you would mention," Aurora said, "that the Syracuse Business and Professional Women's Club presented me with a check upon my arrival here." And Aurora is "very grateful for all these kindness." Only five girls have preceded Aurora and Jeanne at the College of Forestry: Diana M. Smith, Lung Chu Chun, Barbara J. Hennessay, Mildred Kocic and Ruth Worrest who married a forester, Warner Gosharm.-(Syracuse Herald-journal, Mar. 3, 1956) Chances are the woman who doesn't gossip has no friends to speak of. * * * Science is very resourceful. It couldn't open a Pullman window, so it air-conditioned the train. * * * A lie is a poor substitute for the truth, but the only one so far discovered. FORESTRY LEAVES